widgetlocker

More and more developers are taking advantage of the nifty new ability to start a semi-closed beta on the Google Play Store via Google+. The latest is TeslaCoil Software, makers of the customization tool WidgetLocker (among other things). If you want to try out the latest and possibly greatest version of WidgetLocker, just head for this Google+ Community and join in.

Joining the beta is quite simple. Once you join the community, click the Play Store link that's displayed on the page, go through the standard warnings and whatnot, and you'll be directed to a seemingly normal Play Store entry for the app.

If Android's stock lockscreen has become mundane and boring to you, then WidgetLocker – which comes from TeslaCoil Software, the creator of Nova Launcher – is one of the best replacement options on the Play Store. It recently received a somewhat significant update that brings a handful of new and useful features, like the ability to swipe left or right to access apps or the camera, respectively. That's not all TeslaCoil packed into this update, however:

What's New

July 23 2013 - v2.4

Bezel Swipe left for apps

Bezel Swipe right for camera

Redesigned settings page

New Unread Count badge options

Fixes for Jellybean (4.1 through 4.3)

Optimizations

The update is available now in the Play Store – hit the widget below to grab it.

Yesterday, we highlighted the hidden "labs" feature in Nova Launcher. Turns out that's not the only of TeslaCoil's apps with a secret menu - popular lockscreen replacement app WidgetLocker has a similar feature, except it's called "experimental." For all intents and purposes, though, it's the same thing.

It's also activated the same way: simply head into WL's settings menu and hold volume down for 1-2 seconds. Just like with Nova, you'll see a toast notification to let you know that the new menu was successfully unlocked.

WidgetLocker is no stranger to the spotlight -- it's easily the most popular lockscreen replacement app on the Market. With good reason, too: it's highly customizable and allows you actually make good use of the otherwise useless lockscreen.

TeslaCoil Software, the creative minds behind WidgetLocker, pushed the newest version of the app to the Market just a bit ago, and with it came some really nice features to an already incredible app, like the ICS, Honeycomb, and Sense 3 Unlock sliders -- and they all work perfectly.

The long planned, much anticipated update to WidgetLocker that adds themes has been released, and it's every bit as awesome as we expected. Perhaps the best part about it is that there's already a broad selection of themes available in the XDA thread, and it's likely that number will increase substantially as time goes on thanks to the groundwork laid by previous WL mods.

Many people who use custom themes or launchers are familiar with WidgetLocker. What many people don't realize, though, is that customizing WidgetLocker itself is a fairly straightforward task. Better still, there are plenty of existing customizations available, meaning that you have to do little more than shove your modified .PNG files into the APK.